Pokemon Master
by max7345
Summary: Tory was just starting on his path to becoming a trainer when two bandits got in his way. However, Chris, a Pokemon Master stopped them. The next day, Tory becomes Chris' Apprentice and sets out on an adventure that none have experienced before.


In the world of Pokémon many miracles can take place as the bond between the Pokémon themselves and the humans who train and catch them continues to grow. Pokémon trainers catch Pokémon and train them for battle, with dreams of becoming Pokémon masters. But just what are Pokémon masters? Well, that's what this story is going to tell. And where else do we begin but the day it started; at the start of a trainer's journey. Of course, this isn't just any trainer, Tory's adventure is about to go down a path that no trainer has walked down before.

"Wait dear, your jacket!" a kind-looking woman reminded a boy who was in a hurry. "No time mom! I'm late enough as it is!" the boy replied as he threw his backpack over his shoulder and rushed for the door. "Tory Pool, you get over here and get your jacket right this minute!" the woman scolded. Tory's mother's scolding voice rang through his ears and activated his instinct to stop in his tracks out of pure fear. His mom held up his jacket and reminded him, "You know you were born in the winter time, and that means it's cold out."

Tory turned around, rush toward his mother, grabbed his coat and tried to head for the door again, but his mother's grip was still on the jacket. "Now, hold on there! You need to calm down, son. Your tenth birthday isn't over just because the sun's setting. Plus, you know you're the only one in New Bark town who was born on this day; I'm sure Professor Elm still has his three Pokémon for your choosing." The mother released his jacket and finished with that. "I know, I know, but I hate being late, you know that." Tory replied before heading for the door again. "Bye mom." he said before leaving the house and closing the door behind him.

His mother peeked out the window and saw him put his jacket on over his backpack before heading down to Professor Elm's lab. As she saw him run into the blizzard, she muttered to herself, "Oh, that boy; he's so impatient and can be quite a hothead sometimes…just like his father." Tory rush through the snow, calculating his steps; he knew a blizzard would be happening around this time because of the weather forecast and counted how many steps it took to run to the lab before today. Unfortunately, he miscounted this time and ran face-first in the front door.

Tory fell back and into the snow. A scientist who had mistaken Tory's face-plant into the door as a knock opened it and looked around. "Ah, Tory, there you are. Why are you lying in the snow?" Tory sat up and replied nervously, "Oh, heh, hey dad. I was just in a little rush and miscounted my steps." Tory's father chuckled a bit and then asked with some amusement in his voice, "And you ran into the door right?" Tory replied by simply scratching the back of his head and chuckling nervously. Mr. Pool pulled his son up and brought him out of the freezing cold and into the warm white laboratory.

Once inside, Tory looked around and saw the shiny-white walls and floor cover the entire area. "Ah, Tory, there you are, we were beginning to wonder if you were going to come at all." Professor Elm said as he stood in front of a table holding three red and white orbs known as Poké-balls. "Well, I'm here now. Lets get this started." Tory replied. Professor Elm nodded in agreement and released all three Pokémon from their Pok-balls. A beam of light shot out of each one of them and when it faded, a Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Chikorita were standing at attention on the table.

Professor Elm walked behind them and introduced, "These are you Pokémon choices; Cyndaquil, Totodile, or Chikorita." The Pokémon each greeted Tory in their usual way of saying parts of their own names. Tory approached the table and looked at all three of them. He liked all three of them, however, he felt a particularly strong connection toward Chikorita. Because of this he turned to Professor Elm and said happily, "Chikorita." Professor Elm smiled and replied, "A fine choice, a fine choice indeed. Of course, any Pokémon would've been a fine choice. But you chose Chikorita for a reason, and whatever that reason is, I'm sure you made the right choice."

Tory nodded and looked at his new partner. The delighted Chikorita was smiling happily at him as it now had the chance to explore with a human at last. Professor Elm returned to Tory with a red metal notebook with a scanner on the top of it and five smaller Pokéballs. "Here you are, your Pokédex and Poke-balls." Tory took them and thanked Professor Elm for the tools. "Oh, and don't forget this." Professor Elm said as he took Chikorita's Poké-ball and handed it to Tory before continuing, "It's cold outside, and this should keep your Chikorita nice and warm." Tory gratefully accepted it and called his new friend back into its Poké-ball. "Now, hurry along. Your journey as a Pokémon trainer begins now." Professor Elm said to Tory, who replied happily thanked the good Pokémon professor before latching the Poké-balls onto his belt and heading out into the cold night.

Tory zipped up his jacket and made his way to Route 29. Before actually getting on the route, he turned around and looked back at his hometown, knowing that he wouldn't see it again for quite a while. As he was doing this, two human figures hid in the snow and darkness as they watched Tory arrive. "Looks like a rookie's heading this way. Should we pounce?" the man figure said. "No. He may be a rookie, but his starter's still at full strength, we wait until his first capture, then we pounce." the woman figure replied. The man grunted in agreement and waited patiently.

Tory turned around when something caught his eye; in the blizzard and the darkness he could clearly see a Hoothoot, an owl-like Pokémon that only comes out at night. Curious, he pointed the scanner of his Pokédex at it and opened the device, inside weren't pages, but a screen and a speaker. The Pokédex ringed and said aloud, "Hoothoot, the owl Pokémon: It only comes out at night and its large eyes allow it to see incredible distances, giving it near-perfect accuracy." Tory closed the Pokédex and grinned. "How about that, my first catch." Tory muttered to himself before pulling out Chikorita's Poké-ball and throwing it out on the field, calling Chikorita out for battle.

Chikorita jumped out of its Poké-ball with its battle face at the ready, it face its opponent in the harsh blizzard Chikorita looked confident in winning for about a moment or two before the outside temperature set in and the poor Pokémon suddenly began shivering intensely. "Chikoooo!" it whined before rushing over to Tory and nuzzling around his leg to keep warm. Tory groaned in disappointment before getting at eye-level and saying softly to Chikorita, "I know it's cold, believe me, just one successful attack on that Hoothoot and I'll put you back in your Poké-ball, alright?" The shivering Chikorita looked directly at Tory before nodding and walking back into the battlefield.

The Hoothoot looked at the shivering Chikorita and taunted it by ruffling its feathers, showing that it was perfectly warm, even out in the raging blizzard. Chikorita saw this and got a little angrier at the Hoothoot and couldn't wait for Tory to call out an attack. "Chikorita, tackle!" Tory called out. The Chikorita nodded once then charged up at the Hoothoot. However, the blizzard lowered Chikorita's accuracy and it missed slightly, slamming its head into a tree just to the left of the Hoothoot. The Hoothoot held its wing to its beak and began laughing at the now dazed Chikorita. The Chikorita shook the pain out of its head and ran for another tackle attack.

The Hoothoot flapped its wings once and flew into the air, dodging Chikorita's attack completely. The still shivering Chikorita shot a glare at Tory, who smiled nervously and apologized. One little successful hit indeed. Chikorita and Tory looked up at the circling Hoothoot as it hooted tauntingly. Chris had then spotted the tree and had a thought. "Chikorita, run up the tree and tackle the Hoothoot in the air!"

Chikorita nodded and rushed toward the tree, running directly up it and then jumping off and tackling the Hoothoot in mid-air with enough force to send it falling back down. Immediately, Tory called Chikorita back in its Poké-ball and threw one of the empty ones at the Hoothoot. Upon contact, the Poké-ball opened up and captured the Hoothoot in a flash of red light. The Poké-ball landed on the ground and began to shake as the Hoothoot struggled inside to get out. Tory stared intensely at the Poké-ball, hoping that Chikorita's suffering and efforts wouldn't go to waste. The Poké-ball shook five more times before a successful ring echoed the forest and remained still. Tory widened his eyes and stood straighter in surprise before jumping up in the air with joy and shouting, "Yeah! I caught a Pokémon!" Tory rushed over to the Poké-ball containing the Hoothoot and picked it up.

"Well, well. That was quite a show, for a rookie trainer." a woman's voice said from deep within the forest. Tory looked around, wondering where the voice could have come from when a Man's voice replied to the woman's, "Indeed, up the tree and a mid-air attack, and with a first-time battling Pokémon as well. Truly impressive." Tory continued to look around when two human figures walked into view, he couldn't see their faces, but he could see their outlines in this cold, dark night. "Who are you guys?" Tory asked them. "Jasmine." The woman simply answered. "Jake." the man's voice answered right after the woman.

"Now kid, we're going to give you a choice, either give us all of your money, and your Pokémon, and we'll go easy on you." Jasmine said to Tory. "No way! First off, I don't have any money, and second, my Chikorita worked hard to allow me to catch this Pokémon and I'm not letting you guys take it!" Tory replied angrily. He wasn't going to give away anything, especially to these people. "Heh, you brave fool. Team Lion always has their way. Go Magmar!" Jake said before tossing a Poké-ball out. It opened up and a Magmar took its place, the glowing lava on its head illuminated the area somewhat and Tory could see their faces now; Jake appeared to be your typical rich-boy, neat hair style, and wearing a fancy suit. Jasmine, on the other hand, appeared to be more intelligent than anything, as she wore glasses and her red hair only went down to her jaw.

"Hey, don't go having all the fun." Jasmine said to Jake before pulling out a Poké-ball as well and sending out a Raichu into the battlefield. Tory took a step back, clutching his newly-caught Hoothoot contained in its Poké-ball in his hand. He just couldn't bring himself to make his Chikorita go out in this cold again, but Hoothoot could handle it as far as he could tell. Tory tossed Hoothoot's Poké-ball in the air and called it out for battle.

"Oh, look, the pathetic Hoothoot who was just defeated by a shivering Pokémon." Jasmine taunted. The Hoothoot just glared at her. Tory knew that it probably wasn't smart to send out a flying type to battle against a fire and electric type, but it was all he had for now. The Raichu tried a thunderbolt at the Hoothoot, but, like it did with Chikorita, it flapped its wings once and flew in the air, avoiding the attack completely. Hoothoot dove in on the Raichu for a peck attack, hitting it successfully in the gut. Magmar shot a flamethrower at Hoothoot, but it simply used its experienced acrobatics and dodged the attack by rolling to the side and dodging with another flap of its wings. Upon Tory's next attack command, The Hoothoot had now gone for the Magmar, pecking it in the gut first, then sweeping around and landing another peck attack on its back.

Hoothoot had then flapped up into the air once more and dove down for another peck attack on Raichu. However, the Raichu had caught Hoothoot this time and defeated it with a close-range thunderbolt attack. Tory returned the Hoothoot and reached for Chikorita when he remembered that Chikorita couldn't handle the cold. Tory moved his hand away from Chikorita's Poké-ball and just stood there. "Giving up already?" Jake taunted.

Tory looked up and answered, "No. I'm not letting you take any of my Pokémon, even if you've defeated me in battle. My Chikorita can't handle the weather, and you've defeated my only other Pokémon. There's still no way I'm letting you have any of them." Jasmine and Jake just stood there, smiling. "You have a lot of nerve to say that and not be a Pokémon master." Jake replied when a voice suddenly called out from the distance, "He may not be a Pokémon Master, but I am. Go, Typhlosion!"

It all happened so suddenly, a Typhlosion appeared and attacked Jake's Magmar, defeating it with one attack. The Raichu began a thunderbolt attack, but was intervened by another attack from a Pidgeotto. The Pidgeotto's attack knocked Raichu right into its owner, who suffered its thunderbolt attack as it couldn't help but continue on impact. A man wearing a long coat and had a hair style that almost matched perfectly with the Pidgeotto's arrived and said to the thieves, "If I were you two, I'd leave while I had the chance." Jake and Jasmine flinched in fear before scooping up their Pokémon and making a run for it.

Tory looked at the man who had just saved him, he appeared to be in his twenties. However, once he saw the combination of the long coat and the hairstyle, he recognized that man as Chris, the Johto region's Pokémon Master. Chris turned to Tory and commented, "You have talent, kid, but you have more heart than that, and that's what it takes to become a Pokémon master in the end."

As soon as he finished saying this, his Pidgeotto landed on his shoulder, looked at Tory and said in plain English to Chris, "Hmm, with a bit of experience and guidance, he could become even greater than you." Chris chuckled and replied to the Pidgeotto, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Pidgeotto. You forget that I've been the Pokémon master of this region for 13 years. I doubt that a child, as big as his bond is with his own Pokémon is, could become greater than I."

Pidgeotto huffed before turning his head away and replying, "Ok, but don't forget who's always right around here." Behind them, the Typhlosion rolled his eyes and mutter in English, "Oh, here we go again." Chris and Pidgeotto both turned to Typhlosion and asked, "What do ya mean, here we go again?" However, talking Pokémon combined with being in the presence of a Pokémon master appeared to have been too much for Tory to take and he fainted on the spot.

Chris, Pidgeotto, and Typhlosion just looked at him for a few seconds when Pidgeotto turned to Chris and said happily, "Told ya. Fainted, just like you did the first time, a clear sign that he could be greater if not the same." Chris scoffed and replied, "Whatever! I did not faint!" Before Pidgeotto could reply, Chris had called him back inside his Master-ball.

"So, what do we do with him?" Typhlosion asked, referring to Tory. "Well, obviously we get him to shelter before hypothermia sets in, and then we give him the choice." Typhlosion looked at Chris and asked, "You're going to ask him to join us?" Chris nodded and replied, "The only way he'll become A Pokémon master is to learn from one." Chris turned to Typhlosion and commanded, "Make a campfire back at our site. I'll carry the kid." Typhlosion chuckled and replied, "You always give us the easy jobs." before turning around and heading back to Chris' camp site. Chris picked Tory up and followed Typhlosion.

A few minutes Later, Tory came to and was introduced by a warm fire. He tried to move, only to find that he was tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd wake up." Chris greeted Tory with a smile. "It's not much, but it was the best I could do; I only have one tent and I didn't really plan on having anyone else with me." Tory sighed in relief and replied, "You did well, considering your circumstances." Chris chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I guess I did. Anyway, you better get some sleep; it's late out." Tory nodded before resting his head and sleeping. Chris stayed up and made sure that the fire remained lit while the young trainer slept.

The next day, when Tory awoke, Chris wasn't there and it appeared that the fire had gone out. Tory made his way out of the sleeping bag he was still in when Chris came out of a tent behind him and greeted, "Ah, good morning. You sleep well?" Tory nodded gratefully as he got up. "Thanks for the help, sir. But I really should be going now, I've got to get my Hoothoot to a Pokémon Center and--" Tory began when Chris held his hand up, stopping him, and then explained, "I already took care of it last night, your Hoothoot's in perfect shape." Tory was surprised at Chris' hospitality at first, but then reminded himself that all Pokémon Masters had a bond with all Pokémon.

Tory thanked him before throwing his backpack over his shoulder and saying, "All the same, I still have to go; today, my real journey as a Pokémon trainer begins." With that, Tory turned and began walking away. He didn't take three steps when Chris suddenly spoke, "Hey Kid." Tory stopped and gave his attention to Chris, who continued, "When a Master finds potential in a Trainer, it's pretty much a cue for that Master to acquire an apprentice in said Trainer." Tory looked highly interested, and looked intensely at Chris, hoping that he'd say what he thinks he will. "So." Chris continued, "I was wondering if you'd like the honor of being my apprentice."

Tory was thrilled by this news and nearly fainted again, but he stopped himself this time and agreed with a new level of enthusiasm. Chris was just as happy as he said with a smile, "Awesome! You have more than potential, kid. You've got heart. Knowing that your Chikorita was uncomfortable in the harsh cold and not calling it out for that very reason proves my point. Now, if your going to be my apprentice then I'm going to have to know your name."

Tory nodded and said to Chris, "Tory. The name's Tory." Chris continued to smile before calling out his party, which contained, a Typhlosion, Pidgeotto, Raichu, Golem, Alakazam, and Ninetails with one sweep of the back of his jacket and introducing, "Everybody, this is Tory. We're going to be joining him on his journey, we'll all teach him the ways to becoming a Pokémon master." The Pokémon all greeted Tory cheerfully in English; the Raichu and the Ninetails sounded as if they were the only two females on the team.

Tory decided to do the same and called out Hoothoot and Chikorita and tried to introduce them, but Chikorita, it appeared, still had a grudge against Hoothoot from last night and began chasing it. "Chikorita, stop it!" Tory commanded. Chris and his Pokémon lost a bit of their faith after seeing this. Typhlosion walked up to Chris and whispered in his ear, "He's clearly not ready yet. Why must you have gone out of your way to allow him to join." Chris just stood their for a moment before smiling a bit and whispering to Typhlosion, "Don't forget how your reaction to having a trainer was at first. I see myself in this kid; he's just rough around the edges, like all rookie trainers are. He'll become just as good as me, if not better." Typhlosion nodded in understanding and backed up back in line.

Chris suddenly looked toward Chikorita and said in a commanding tone, "Ka! Chika chik chi-ka." Chikorita immediately stopped chasing Hoothoot and walked over to Tory, still giving an angry glare at Hoothoot, who fluttered on the other side of Tory. Before Tory could say anything, Chris said, "Tory, I honestly think you should wait until your Pokémon get along before you try to introduce them." Tory nodded nervously before calling them back into their Poké-balls.

Chris returned his Pokémon back into their Master-balls as well and approached Tory. "Well, I suppose we should get going. After all, it's a long way to Cherrygrove city and your first gym battle." Tory just looked at Chris in astonishment for a moment before realizing that he was supposed to be following him and jogged over to him to catch up. Tory had then remembered something and asked Chris, "Hey, aren't you going to get your tent and stuff?"

Meanwhile, in a blimp in the sky, a man hidden in shadow overlooked most of Johto on his screens when one out of hundreds of buttons began flashing on the desk in front of him. He pressed the button and Jake and Jasmine appeared on all of the screens as if it were one big screen. "Well, well, if it isn't my two star thieves. What poor soul have you robbed last night?" the man said in a gruff voice. "We, er, have some bad news, sir." Jake informed.

The boss stopped smiling, which was the only thing that could have been seen on his face. He asked in a an angry and surprised voice, "Bad news?" Jake gulped nervously and replied, "Yes, you see…we were defeated." The boss slammed his fist down on the desk and shouted with intense fury, "Defeated!?" Jake and Jasmine both flinched in fear at their boss' anger. "Do you know why we can't afford an actual base? It's because this organization continues to disappoint me, just like you two have today."

Jake quickly, and very nervously, explained, "Well, wait, it wasn't the trainer who defeated us. It was a Typhlosion and a Pidgeotto." The boss appeared to have calmed down at these words, "I see…still, I will not account for failure; either finish what you started, or consider yourselves fired. And don't report or return until you have." And with that, he pressed another button and ended the conversation right there. In the darkness, the boss of Team Lion muttered to himself, "So…Chris has returned from the shadows has he? That coward has hidden from me for years. I was always the stronger trainer and he knows it…well, things appears as if they could get interesting…VERY interesting."


End file.
